19 May 2015

Not everyday the WSJ graces its front page with news about TQNLQNSPM* stock, though surprisingly it did yesterday. Jose De Córdoba and Juan Forero brought it home with an extensive account on how several U.S. Federal Agencies, including the DEA, are basically closing in on Diosdado Cabello (pictured sporting a chic red beret), for turning the country into a narco-state. As one of Venezuela's foremost authorities on corruption, I am glad that a major U.S. news outlet finally exposed what's been vox populi for quite some time now.

Those who haven't been paying attention will find the piece interesting, specially claims from authoritative sources about Cabello's role in the Sun's Cartel (Cartel de los Soles: so named for it is run by Venezuela's top brass, i.e. those who have suns insignia in their epaulettes):

A leading target, according to a Justice Department official and other American authorities, is National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, considered the country’s second most-powerful man. “There is extensive evidence to justify that he is one of the heads, if not the head, of the cartel,” said the Justice Department official, speaking of a group of military officers and top officials suspected of being involved in the drug trade. “He certainly is a main target.”

"... a trusted reader informs us that Majed Khalil is
the bagman of General Francisco Rangel Gomez, former president of
aluminium and mining giant Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG),
current Governor of Bolivar state. Hence his deals with CVG. Majed
Khalil is also a partner -and best man- of Lieutenant Antonio José
Morales Rodríguez (aka "el catre"), godson and aide-de-camp of Hugo
Chavez and one of his most trusted men. Morales is currently director of
the office of the Secretary of Venezuela's Presidency. Morales has
recently been fingered by former Supreme Court Judge Eladio Aponte
Aponte as one of the men who ordered him to free an army drug trafficker
(Pedro Maggino) caught with 2 tonnes of cocaine in Venezuela.

So it is not only Leamsy Salazar, Cabello's former bodyguard featured throughout, who's witnessed involvement in drug trafficking at the very highest levels, Chavez's very own is also ear-deep in it, despite Oliver Stone's willingness to take a drug trafficker at face value.

U.S. authorities could most certainly tap, at a moment's notice, on a vast network of Bolivarian thugs that have made the U.S. their playground. I'm thinking Francisco D'Agostino, Victor Vargas, Victor Gill, Roberto Rincón, José Zambrano, Rafael Sarria, Pedro Torres Ciliberto and his son Pedro Torres Picón, David Osío, Andrés Coles, Alejandro Andrade, Danilo Díaz Granados, Luis Oberto and his gang... Mind you there's no shortage of Venezuelans -whose ill gotten wealth came from deals with / sanctioned by Cabello- that could reveal the extent of his links to criminal activity. But then again, perhaps those mentioned, and then some, are part of the 56 Bolichoros whose visas have been withdrawn by the U.S. Government and are now singing in a desperate attempt to keep laundered proceeds.

Sources have told me that numerous federal investigations are taking place in New York, Florida, and Texas, where chavista "businessmen" tend to concentrate. Bolivarian "financiers" took to money laundering with such gusto that once public money started drying they thought "maybe we could lend our services to Diosdado's other businesses..."

It does take a while for Uncle Sam to get going, once it does though there aren't many places to hide. In the meanwhile, Cabello must be feeling a bit like Manuel "cara e' piña" Noriega. The U.S. is not about to send the Marines to Venezuela. Nowadays they count on Cuba's G2, Dilma, Juan Manuel Santos and Tom Shannon, to name a few, to do its bidding. Trouble for Cabello, a true TQNLQNSPM if there ever was one, is that outside his sphere of influence (dysfuntional and drug trafficking Venezuelan army) he's got no friends. He hates the Cubans. He has never been bothered with cultivating international allies. He has no charisma. No popular support. He's probably the most hated politico in Venezuela, and it is unlikely that FARC narcoterrorists are going to risk it for him.

Time will tell, of course. But before we see the end of this some spectacular fireworks are likely to take place.

1 May 2015

United States District Judge, J. Paul Oetken, dismissed former Western Hemisphere Affairs Secretary, Otto Reich, jurisdictional claims presented in a bribery lawsuit against Derwick Associates filed by the former diplomat in New York. In a stinging decision, Judge Oetken derides some of Reich's arguments about Derwick's executive Pedro Trebbau, stating:

Plaintiffs offer essentially the same set of facts in support of jurisdiction over Trebbau,
with one important exception: Trebbau neither owns nor rents any real estate in New York at all.
Instead, Plaintiffs contend, his New York residence is the home of his friend and banker,
Eduardo Travieso. Plaintiffs argue that “given Defendants’ wealth and stature, it is simply
implausible that they could maintain their extravagant lifestyles in Venezuela—a violent, third-
world country beset by rampant blackouts, food shortages and gross poverty.” (Plaintiffs’
Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Betancourt’s and Trebbau’s Motions to Dismiss, at 10
[Plaintiffs’ Memorandum].) And yet Plaintiffs would have the Court believe that a man of
Trebbau’s estimable “wealth and stature” permanently intends to crash on his friend’s couch. (bold added)

Judge Oetken's decision is a thing of beauty. It demonstrates, for one, that due process, when functioning as intended, is never encumbered with tangential stuff that has no direct bearing on the issue at hand, which is determining jurisdiction on the basis of facts presented in this particular instance.

Having property, bank accounts, mortgages, visiting, and spending money in a place does not amount, in Judge Oetken's view, to being domiciled in that place. Ed Miliband would disagree though. So while Alejandro Betancourt -Derwick's CEO / $PRE.to third largest shareholder- admits to have just 35% of his total net worth in New York -Reich claims Betancourt keeps $68 million in NY banks- he is not domiciled in New York, and therefore New York courts have no jurisdiction over his affairs, as pertaining to bribery claims against Derwick Associates in the context of this lawsuit.

Reich basically failed to demonstrate that Betancourt and Trebbau were domiciled in New York. That's what it came down to. The lawsuit never got to the juicy part: bribery allegations that could have shed light on the manner in which Derwick got over a billion dollars in 12 no-bid contracts from the Venezuelan State.

In the meantime, US Federal Agencies and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office continue probing Derwick and its commercial activities. I have been told that there's a particular interest in exploring connections to Diosdado Cabello, who appears to have become target no 1 for US law enforcement interested in Venezuela.

Alek Boyd created Vcrisis.com and started blogging about Venezuela in Oct. 2002. Since, he has worked as an independent researcher, reporter, lobbyist, civil and political rights activist, and has experience in strategic and media consulting throughout Latin America. In 2006, Alek became the first blogger ever to shadow a presidential candidate in Venezuela. In 2009 he gained a MA (merits) in Spanish American Studies (King's College London). Alek can be contracted to do due diligence on individuals and companies in Venezuela and LatAm. Contact: @alekboyd.

Most of the investigations I've published since 2002 are related to individuals and companies with suspect connections to Hugo Chavez's regime, whose actions would've gone unnoticed otherwise. Exposing the $2-trillion dictator is no easy task, and so donations are always welcome.